Villains don't get happy endings
by GallifreyanDemigoddess
Summary: "The love I felt for Jefferson was the kind of love that was worth fighting for. The kind of love that makes you stupid and makes every single part of you happy" she said. "It wasn't true love, but it was all we had." Melanie Grace truly believed the Evil Queen had killed Jefferson back in the Enchanted Forest, but what happens when in StoryBrook she sees him? Can they be happy?
1. Chapter 1

If you're reading this it, I should probably warn you: this isn't the typical love story where a girl and a boy meet and they love each other instantly and they live happily ever after and all that shit Disney makes it seems like.

No.

This story is quite different. I'm not a princess, he's not a prince. It was neither True Love nor Soul Mates things. I'm a girl, yes, and I fell head-over-heels for a boy, yes, but we didn't live happily ever after.

...

At nineteen, I'd seen the whole world a couple of times. I was always traveling, always moving on. I never knew my parents, or any other relative, so I only had myself. And that was okay for me. I moved around the realms, never staying in one for more than a couple of days. I stole things for a living, worked for powerful wizards and witches, learning from them and doing their dirty works...

The only thing I didn't cared about discovering was love.

And guess what happened?

I fell in love.

And not the kind of love princesses has, it wasn't that romantic shit they talk about all the time.

It wasn't "True Love".

But it was the best that had happened to me.

What I felt for him _was_ love. There was no doubt about it.

It was that kind of love you have for a person that the only thing you want to do is kill them, but at the same time, kiss the living hell out of them. It was the kind of love that makes you blind, and deaf, and jealous, and stupid, and angry, and happy, and sad, and joyous and confused. Really, really confused.

And of course, I hated it.

At first, like any other teenager could think, I said the only thing I felt for him was hate.

He was only an annoying bastard that annoyed me with his his whole existence. But he wasn't only that. He was a grown up man, he was older than me by a couple of years, (he even had a daughter!), he was devilishly handsome... (So handsome it should be a crime,) and he was charming when he wanted to, and funny...He was the man any girl could want.

But not me.

I didn't wanted him.

I hated him...

...Or so I thought.

Rumple always loved to see us fighting, he confessed to me that he could practically see us making out passionately after our fights...something that happened a couple of times, to be honest.

It was thanks to Rumple that I realized I loved Jefferson.

And when I did, there was no turning back.

The moment I accepted I loved him was the moment everything changed.

...

We actually were happy, for a couple of years we had everything we wanted. I finally had a family, I had Jefferson and I had Grace, his daughter.

And I was happy.

For the first time in my life I felt what real happiness was.

But of course, I should've remembered villains don't get happy endings.

Thanks to the Evil Queen from The Enchanted Forest, I lost Jefferson. One afternoon she came to our little house searching for him, begging him to help her. I don't know why, but Jefferson accepted...

I didn't see him again after that day.

I couldn't even say goodbye.

He just disappeared.

For months I searched for him, everywhere, but I couldn't find him. I tried to kill The Evil Queen, but that didn't worked quite well. Since I couldn't kill her, I cursed her.

I couldn't had my happy ending...then she wouldn't either. I worked with Rumplestilskin enough time to know about some nasty curses, and mine, I was sure was the worst one you could give a lonely empty hearted girl. The Evil Queen wanted a happy ending? She wasn't going to get one. Not here, nor in the stupid Land without Magic.

After a while, I accepted that destiny had played again with me. I accepted that I wouldn't, probably, see Jefferson ever again.

I settled down with Grace, and I tried to be a mother for her.

It worked quite well for some time, but then The Evil Queen's curse hit,

And we were sent to the Land without Magic.

There, I was separated yet again from the person I currently loved. Grace was sorted into a loving family that consisted from a mother and a father, and I was sorted out as her sister. We were together, but not in the way we were before.

And that hurt.

But I managed to overcome it. There on StoryBroke life could be dull, but it was kind of good, too. There was just so much calmness...there was no magic, so the only thing left to do was live your life. I had a new life, a new name and a new family.

I had a chance to start over as "Melanie Grace".

But it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

I remembered my life before the Curse.

I remembered Jefferson and our terrible "love story".

I remembered everything.

And that was the worst curse one could have.


	2. Ready to be a villain again

_Along time ago, in a far away land. _

_"Are you sure about this?" a woman asked for the millionth time that day. _

_Her name was Artemis, and she was a beautiful young lady with hair golden like the sun, and bright beautiful hazel eyes. _

_"Totally," the man answered for the millionth time. _

_His name was Jefferson. He was handsome man with dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, broad shoulders, and a hell of a jawline. He was the most handsome man ever, at least in Artemis' eyes. _

_"I already told you, Themis, it'll be alright." _

_"But isn't it a bit...irresponsible to leave Paige with the neighbours so we can have a date?" Artemis bit her lips. _

_She felt bad for telling Jefferson she wanted to have a little time for themselves. She included Grace in that notion, but Jefferson insisted it would be okay to leave Grace at the neighbours. _

_Jefferson rolled his eyes. "She's right next door, if something happens she can came right back to us. Don't worry." _

_"I'm sorry," Artemis said, "I don't know what's going on with me lately..." But she did. She was worried about her past. She was worried that her past would come crashing down on her, and that it'll separate her from Jefferson and Grace. She wasn't a saint. She had tons of enemies, and she would never forgiver herself if something bad happened to Grace or Jefferson because of that. _

_"I know," Jefferson said, making Artemis glance up at him. "It'll be alright, darling, you know I'll be with you every second. It doesn't matter what happened. The past is in the past. We must enjoy the present." _

_Artemis smiled up at Jefferson. He hugged her, pressing herself on him, and she smiled, caressing her cheek softly. "I love you." _

_Jefferson chuckled, and kissed her lips softly. "I love you too, darling." _

* * *

><p><span><em>Our world, present day. <em>

Another long boring day on StoryBrook.

After 28 years, one would think I'd be already used to the calmness and sameness of everyday. But no, time here was agonisingly slow. 28 years have passed, and no one, no one ever notices it.

I'm getting tired of it.

Everyday the same.

Everyday.

You know how agonising is it to talk to someone, and the only thing they say is the same they said yesterday. And the day before, and the day before that...

No?

Well, it's horrible.

"Melanie!" Paige chided.

I sighed. I was sitting on Paige's room, a small table between us two. We were having one of our tea parties. Tea and chocolate cookies smelling deliciously sweet. But even the thought of eating those made my stomach want to hide itself.

Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Grace, our "mother", cooked the best cookies ever, but after 28 years of the same cookies, the same food, the same games...Imagine how exhaustingly horrible it was.

Got it?

I'm that exhausted.

"C'mon, Melanie!" Paige said giggling. "You know you want to."

I tried not to smile. Truth was, if I ate another cookie I'll probably throw up. "I don't want to. You're the one that has been nagging for ages—" ,

"Liar," Paige sang. Her puppy dog eyes increasing. I tried not to melt down, but her big smile and her big puppy eyes were too much for my heart. Her crown made out of paper mâché was shinning with too many pink glitter.

I rolled my eyes at Paige's puppy dog eyes, and took one cookie. I put it in my mouth and tried to eat it as fast as I could. My fake crown fell into the floor as I did so.

Paige smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. She clicked her tongue at me. "Ms. Grace, would you be a good princess and keep the crown in your head?"

"Why, of course," I said, making a pompous movement with my hand, swallowing the rest of the cookie with a grim expression. "What is a princess without her crown?"

"What is a princess without her prince?" smiled Paige as she put a male crown on the closest teddy bear. She was quoting from an old book I hated that she loved. It was about Princess and Princes and love, and all that overly-lovely stuff I so passionately hated.

My smile disappeared slowly. _What was a princess without her prince_? Many things: independent, smarter...but sad, heartbroken, lonely...

"Unhappy," I whispered out loud.

Paige frowned, looking back at me. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Let's go back to our tea. Shall we?"

But the tea parties only made me sadder. The way Paige laughed and smiled also made me sad. She had his father's smile.

"Melanie, are you sure you are okay?" asked Paige worriedly. "You look so sad. Are you tired of playing with me?"

"No, no, sweetie," I said, momentarily forgetting I was supposed to be the kind of big sister who never calls their little sister sweet things, and hated to play with them. Even though I secretly loved playing with Paige. "I just, uh, I'm just lost in thoughts. Shall we continue?"

Paige looked at me in the way her father used to do when he knew I wasn't being honest, and that made my heart ache even more. I hadn't noticed before the curse, but she was just like her father. Sadly, when I didn't want anything to remind me of my former life, every time I looked at Paige, I saw Jefferson.

And that hurts so much.

"Actually," I said weakly. "May I be excused? I'm not feeling quite well."

Paige nodded worriedly, and I rose from the floor. I put my blue paper mâché crown on the table, and left Paige's room as fast as I could without running.

On the way to my room, Mrs. Grace and I nearly ran into each other. She was a middle aged woman with the sweetest smile someone could have, and a beautiful aged face. She used to be our neighbor back in our other life. Her husband, Mr. Grace, was a tall middle aged man who always knew what to say and was handsome in a way usually old men weren't. I really liked them.

"Are you okay, Melanie?" she asked.

"Oh, hey Mrs. Grace—" I started to say, but the sad look on her face stopped me. "Mom. I'm sorry—"

"No, it's okay...I guess you kids have to get used to having a mom," she said sadly.

Paige and I were orphans here on this world. The fake memories the Evil Queen put on our brains were the next: Paige was an orphan, I was her big sister, we were on a foster home until Mrs. and Mr. Grace adopted us, and we'd lived happily ever after, after that here on this beautiful house. Our names here were Melanie and Paige Grace. Ironic, actually, since our last name was Paige's real name. The Evil Queen was just _that _bitch.

"You're doing a great job," I said, and then, tentatively I said, "Mom."

She smiled at me in a way I would have liked my mom to smile at me, if I had one. _Something I do now_, I forced myself to remember. _Mrs. Grace was my mother now. Mr. Grace my father. Paige, my sister. I wasn't an orphan thief anymore. I have a family now. _

Not the family I had before, with Jefferson and Paige, but this one was nearly as good as that.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Mrs. Grace asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What? Oh! Yeah, I'm oaky." I said, mentally wondering why I was remembering Jefferson so much today. I usually could ignore my memories and focus on this world.

_Not today,_ it seems.

"Mr. Gold called—" Mrs. Grace told me.

"Shit!" I said, ignoring Mrs. Grace telling me to watch my language. "I forgot I had to work on his shop today. I'll see you later mom, I gotta go."

"Goodbye, dear, don't come home too late!"

...

On my way to the store, I heard Ruby and Granny arguing, like every other day. Regina Mills, the Evil Queen, passed me by, and by the look I gave her I made sure to remind her of how much I hated her. Though, she probably doesn't understand my look. For her I was probably just another amnesiac girl here. Mary Margaret, Snow White, passed me and smiled at me. I smiled back. I passed Marco's shop; he was, like always, trying to make his shop sing stay still.

When I finally arrived to the shop, I left my things behind the counter and took my place behind it. I've worked with him since..._always?_ Ever since we landed on this Earth I was, yet again, working for The Dark One.

After a couple of minutes, he appeared, he was talking with a costumer, so he only nodded in my direction. "Good morning, Ms. Grace,"

The costumed said his thanks, wished us a nice day, and left. When the door closed, Rumple turned to me.

"Good Morning, Rumple," I said.

A small smirk started to appear on his face. He knew I remembered. He remembered too. And that was good, having someone else that remembers. We can talk without having to lie and be our fake personas the Evil Queen made us.

"Artemis," he said nodding, "You're late."

"Sorry," I said, "I was with Grace."

"As always," he said.

"Well, is there anything else to do here?" I crossed my arms. _What else could I be doing? _

"Actually..."

That got my attention. My head snapped up and I looked at him. He nodded at me. A wicked smirk forming on his lips. "We have work to do, Artemis. Are you ready?"

"Oh, yeah." A smirk formed on my lips.

I may be good with Grace.

I may be soft and sweet sometimes.

I may have changed when I was with Jefferson...

...**But he wasn't here anymore. **

**I wasn't Grace's mother figure anymore**.

**I was more than ready to be a villain again.**

* * *

><p>"<em>You know, when I said I wanted to have a date, I didn't meant this type of date." Artemis said. "Not that being dragged by horrible creatures isn't romantic."<em>

_Jefferson grunted when he was pushed more roughly to the front. "Yeah, this wasn't exactly on my plans, Artemis!" _

_"No need to be so harsh," Artemis huffed. "It was only an observation—Hey!" the thingy carrying her pushed her roughly. "Watch it, imp." _

_Jefferson's and Artemis' eyes met, and they both shared a long look. They looked ahead, where more ugly creatures were waiting. None of them knew where they were going, but it couldn't be good. _

_"Hey, Jefferson," Artemis called in her best indifferent voice. "You remember our day in the Land without Colour?" _

_Jefferson blinked for a second, ready to sass her, but then he understood. _

_"Oh," he said, a small smirk forming on his lips. "Yeah." _

_Artemis smirked too. _

_They walked some more steps. Jefferson nodded slowly. Artemis turned around so fast, the sword missing her neck by inches. She kicked the best on its face, and it crashed down. Jefferson did the same, with the same result. More of the creatures started to run towards them. Artemis and Jefferson took the knocked down monsters' swords. _

_The other monsters arrived. _

_Artemis and Jefferson both turned around and pointed their swords at the horrible figures in front of them. Three ugly creatures of some type were snarling at them, surprised at their tactic. _

_"What are them?" asked Jefferson looking up and down at them. "They're ugly." _

_"The King's guards," Artemis explained. "And they can understand us." _

_"Yes they can," one of them snarled. _

_Artemis glared daggers at him. "What do you want?" _

_"You know what we want," the other one answered. _

_"Our king will be pleased to see you again."_

_Jefferson turned to Artemis. "Again?" _

_"Long story," she waved it off. "Well, you can tell your king it was nice visiting, but we have more places to go." _

_The creatures snarled. "You're not getting away from us again,—" _

_"Oh, just stop!" rolled his eyes Jefferson. He kicked one monster and decapitated the rest. _

_Artemis was trying to hide an amused smirk. _

_"I seriously hate villain's speeches," he said. _

_Artemis rolled her eyes, trying not to look down at the dead monsters. _

_"Now, can we have our date?" Jefferson asked. "Though, preferably in other realm, where monsters don't try to capture you." _

_"Sounds lovely," Artemis said. "Let's go fetch Grace." _

_They joined arms. _

_"Where will be going?" _

_Jefferson made a thinking face, then he kissed Artemis hand. "Where do you want to go?" _

_"Mmmm..." she said, letting her head rest on his shoulder as they walked."I don't know. Everywhere is nice if you're with me." Jefferson grinned. "Where do you want to go?" _

_"I say let's go to The Enchanted Forest." said Jefferson. _

_Artemis shrugged. "Let's go to The Enchanted Forest, then." _


	3. You are beautiful

I grunted as I raised my fingers to touch my lip. I always knew how dangerous was to work with Rumple, but I guess now that we couldn't use magic it was more hard. And I guess I hadn't realized that before.

"You okay, dear?" Mr. Gold asked.

"Ugh, yeah," I said, looking at my fingers. A delicate line of bright red blood was scattered on my hand. I grunted again, cursing softly. Now I'll have to explain to Mrs. Grace why I came home from my job with my lip like this...

Mr. Gold turned to the man in front of us. The man was knocked unconscious, but I had a bad feeling about him. Even knocked down he looked pretty dangerous. He was bulky and big. Extremely big. If he woke up we'll have no chance against him. Not without magic.

"What did he do, again?" I asked as I stood by Mr. Gold's side. He was glancing down at the man too. When I asked him, he glanced up at me and gave a sour smile.

"He remembers," was all Mr. Gold said.

I looked at the man again. "He remembers?"

Mr. Gold nodded. I frowned. Every once in a while someone like him appeared, someone that remembered, but usually, the Evil Queen—

"No!" I said, turning to Mr. Gold. "This is not your work, it's Regina's!"

"Yes," Mr. Gold admitted softly. "Regina asked me to take care of this man—"

"And you asked me to come with you!" I said incredulously. A horrible bubbling sensation of anger burning in my stomach. I tried to stay calm, but when I talked my voice sounded as hard as iron. "Rumple. You know I don't work for her. You know that."

Mr. Gold sighed. "Still not over him, dearie?—"

"No," I said. "Just as you're still not over Belle."

That was a low blow, and I knew it. His eyes darkened, and he looked at me deadly serious. For a moment, I though he might hit me with his cane, but he simply just looked away after a moment.

"I'm sorry," I said after a while. He missed Belle probably as much as I missed Jefferson. And just as I hate to be reminded of him, he must hate to remind Belle, and what could have been between them.

He simply nodded.

I glanced down at the man on the floor. Now that I knew what he was going to be hit for, I didn't really wanted to help Mr. Gold with it.

"I'm sorry, Rumple, but this time I won't be helping you."

I started to move to the door, but his voice interrupted me.

"You're going soft."

I instinctively pursed my lips. That was a bad idea, I grimaced as I tasted my blood, and my lip ached even more. I opened my mouth, and faced Rumple again. He was looking up at me as he knelt over the man with the help of his cane. "All those years as Melanie started to make impact on you?" He said it as an statement, but I could read the question on his eyes. I felt a little bit hurt that he didn't understand my motive. He, from all people, should understand.

I smiled without humour. "No. There's a big difference between going soft, and doing the woman I loath a favour. I'm not helping her. I don't work for her. I work for you. So, when you find something in which I can help, and that it doesn't has anything to do with the Queen...Call me, okay?"

With that, I left Rumple alone with the man.

A couple of hours later, a man entered the local hospital with sings of, what the doctors would call it later after lots of studies of the man, amnesia. Looks like Rumple did the Evil Queen another favour.

...

I went back home rather quickly. I tried to hide the blood from my lips from Mrs. Grace, but she saw it the second I entered our little porch. Her eyes widened widely and she looked like she might faint.

"Oh, dear!" she said, running up to me. I winced as she moved to touch my face.

"Don't touch me, please," I said, raising my hands. Then I saw the hurt starting to build on her eyes, and I quickly fixed it. "It aches a lot."

She softened her expression. Her hand clasped mine and she dragged me to our kitchen, where she proceeded to open the First Aid Kit.

"What happened?" she asked me as she forced me to sit down on one of our chairs.

I sighed. The man, even when we drugged him to capture him, put on a good fight. One of his punches hit me in the face. My lip broke. Thats what happened.

Though, I doubt I could tell that to Mrs. Grace. "You don't wanna know."

She placed a wet moth on with alcohol and other healing things on my lip. I hissed and backed away slowly. Mrs. Grace looked at me apprehensly.

"Dear, is Mr. Gold..." she stopped herself, regained her posture, and continued. "Are you and Mr. Gold..."

I looked at her. "Yes?..."

"Are you and Mr. Gold in a sexual relationship?" she blurted out. "Is he hitting you, dear?"

I didn't know if I should laught or cry or feel weird.

I chose to laugh.

I laughed so hard Mrs. Grace looked even more worried.

"Sure!" I giggled. "He fucks me everyday! You should see how he grabs me by the throat and pushed me in the bed—" Mrs. Grace nearly fainted, and I laughed louder. "I'm kidding, mom! He's just my boss."

Slowly, the colour returned to her face. She breathed in relief, and finished cleaning the blood from my face, to the proceed to gave me a look. "Good," she said. "He's too old for you."

I smiled softly. I though of Jefferson, and our age difference. It wasn't that much, but I'm sure this Mrs. Grace wouldn't approve. I say this one, because the Mrs. Grace back in the Enchanted Forest loved to see Jefferson and me together.

"We don't see each other like that," I said.

"Mmm," she said.

"Are you done?" I asked, yearning to go up my room. I only wanted to throw myself on my bed and sleep, or watch some Netflix.

"Yes," she said, but the way she looked at me made me stay still. She was going to say something. "Is there a boy in your life, Melanie?"

I blinked. Over the last 28 years, she'd never asked me that.

This was something new.

"I don't mean to be nosey, you're a grown up woman already..." Mrs. Grace said. "I just...I realized I don't really know much about you. Ever since we adopted Paige, and you came along..." that sounded bad, even for me.

It was true that since I was already an adult, and Paige was a little girl, we were gonna be separated, (or that's what our curse memories implied) And when that was gonna happen Mr. And Mrs. Grace appeared and they adopted us both...

They didn't needed to "adopt" me too, but they did. And I was grateful for that. Well, my cursed self was grateful for that.

"—All we've know are some little things," Mrs. Grace continued. "But I don't know many things about you, dear, and I'll like to know."

No one, except from Jefferson, had ever taken such interest on me. And that made me feel...weird. I swallowed the weird feeling in my throat.

"What do you want to know?" I asked softly.

"Well, for starters...Do you have a boyfriend, or a love interest?" Mrs. Grace smiled in a way that reminded me to the smile I give at Grace when she hangs out with Henry Mills.

A long silence followed.

How could I explain my love life?

There was one word that could describe it perfectly, but I couldn't bring myself to say it. Instead, I marvelled in the flashbacks. My cursed self didn't had a love life, as pathetic as it sounded. But the real me did.

Did that counted as one?

Can you count a love that you shouldn't be able to remember?

"I had one," I said after a while.

Mrs. Grace grabbed my hand.

I looked down to our intertwined fingers.

"What happened?"

I felt a horrible knot on my throat. I realized it was the first time I was going to talk about Jefferson to someone else besides from Rumple. And with Rumple I didn't really talked about it. I just sort of mentioned him. Back in the Enchanted Forest Grace and I had made a silent vow not to talk about him if we could. We both had hope to see him again, but it was so painful the wait that we decided not to talk about him.

Now? Now I was actually bringing myself to talk about him.

"He died," I said, unable to invent some other shitty thing to say. Jefferson was more important than whatever Mrs. Grace could think. I couldn't bring myself to say anything bad about him, or to even invent some shitty story about us breaking up.

"Oh...oh, dear, I'm sorry," Mrs. Grace said, squeezing my hand and looking up at me with pity and sadness. "I'm so sorry."

I swallowed the knot that was my throat. "Well, yeah, that happens," I tried to smile. "But that's just how life works, isn't it?"

"Was he young?" she asked.

I nodded. "Only a couple of years older than me."

"How long is a couple?"

"Dunno," I said, not wanting to remember anymore. "He was in his early thirties."

"How was he?" Mrs. Grace asked me softly, running circles on my knuckles. Her eyes giving me encouragement to speak. "You know, it'll help the pain if you talk about it with someone..."

"I hardly doubt it" I asked, feeling my eyes ache with tears. I didn't wanted to cry. Not again. Not in front of anyone.

But yet...

"I loved him so much," I blurted out, before Mrs. Grace could say anything. "But he's gone. He's gone and he's not coming back." I swallowed a sob. "Why should I talk about him? It will only make me sadder."

"Dear...—" started Mrs. Grace.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, mom, please, just...don't."

"Dear—"

"I'm tired," I said, forcing my lips up in a smile. "I'm going to my room."

"Dear—" she sighed. "Just...know I'm here for you, okay?"

I nodded, and left as fast as I could.

In my room, as the door closed, I broke down crying. I cried for Jefferson. And for myself. I cried for Grace too, our little bundle of joys that now was a grown up teen with no memories of us.

I cried until my eyes were dry.

I cried as I heard Paige coming back from school. She sounded so happy as she entered her room, all while talking to mom about her day.

When my foster parents knocked on my door, I feigned to be asleep so they would leave.

I cried until it hurt to cry.

Then I continued crying.

I cried until I fell asleep.

And even in my sleep, nightmares of the past followed me.

...

* * *

><p><em>Artemis gritted her teeth as she tried to walk in that maze that was the forest. <em>

_Rumplestiltskin had ordered her to bring Jefferson to his castle. Of course, he forgot to specify the Hatter was in another realm, in a forest full of ugly creatures. So it was up to the young lady to travel to the other realm and search for the stupid man in a stupid forest as big as the Enchanted Forest itself. Artemis was far from angry. She was furious._

_A small white cottage appeared in her line of view just a few steps from where she was. She narrowed her eyes. _

_"He had to ask me to search for him," she was saying in whispers. "Like I don't have better things to do," she scoffed as she approached the house slowly. "Why couldn't he just, like, snap his fingers and poof Jefferson to the Dark Castle, or something like that—" she stopped when a tree branch behind her creaked. _

_Her muscles tensed. Her neck tickled. _

_She was being watched._

_Another creak. _

_Artemis dig her hand under her hood slowly, not wanting whoever was there to see her movement. She felt the cold metal under her fingers, and she dragged her dagger out slowly. _

_"Artemis?" _

_She spun around, and nearly cut the man's throat. The man was faster, and he clasped the hand. Artemis' dagger fell to the ground with a startling sound."Whoa! Blondie, it's me." _

_Artemis looked up. "Oh, sorry," her tone sounded everything but sorry. _

_"Nice to see you, too," Jefferson said sarcastically, removing his hands from hers. "What are you doing here?" _

_Artemis glared at him as she lowered to retrieve her dragger. As she hide it under her hood again, she looked up at him. "Rumple wants to see you." _

_Jefferson's face denoted annoyance. "Why didn't he called me himself, then?" _

_"Do I look like I know?" snapped Artemis, losing her patience. "Just move it, Hatter, I don't have all damn day." _

_Jefferson glared at her. "Give me a moment."_

_"No," snapped Artemis. "We're going now." _

_Jefferson's eyes darkened dangerously. He looked down at the young girl in front of him. He forced himself to stay calm, but it was so hard. Everything about that woman made him lose his temper. "I have something to do. Very important. Now, wait."_

_He moved, but Artemis grabbed his arm roughly. "I've been hit. I've been nearly raped. I've been humiliated. I am not waiting anymore. We are going. Now." _

_Jefferson glared at her again. The effect was immediate. He was a head taller than her, and much more strong. He tried not to lose his patience much more, since he'd never hurt a woman, and he certainly wasn't going to anytime soon. He broke from her grasp, and opened his mouth to say something hurtful, probably, but Artemis may never know what he was going to say. _

_A loud cry filled the air. Artemis froze, and Jefferson gritted his teeth. He didn't wanted Artemis to know..._

_"What's that?" she asked immediately. "Is that...is that a baby, Jefferson?" _

_Jefferson didn't answered, instead, he ran to the house. Artemis blinked, and followed him. When she entered she found the hatter with a beautiful baby on his arms. He was talking softly to the baby as he moved from side to side, hugging the baby as he did so. After a while, the baby stopped crying. The baby girl moved slightly, and Artemis could see she wasn't exactly a baby, she could be 2 or 3 years already. The girl had bright blonde hair, beautiful big brown eyes, and nearly had all of her teeth. _

_Artemis felt a weird sensation on her stomach. Jefferson looked with so much love at that baby..._

_"She's your daughter?" the words left her mouth without she could stop herself. _

_Jefferson and the little girl looked at him. The girl seemed to see her for the first time, and she hugged herself to her father, clearly afraid. Jefferson said something on the girl's ear, and the girl nodded. She ran to the other room, leaving Artemis and Jefferson alone. _

_"Yes," he said a bit to harshly. "She's my daughter." _

_Artemis swallowed the lump on her throat. She didn't know what she was feeling, but it made her feel confused. "She's very pretty." _

_Jefferson smiled. The first real smile Artemis ever saw on the Hatter's face. Not the half smirk he always did around Rumple and her, it was a big goofy smile that made his eyes twinkle and his face look ever more handsome. _

_Artemis swallowed again. _

_Slowly, Jefferson sighed. _

_"I can't leave her alone," he said softly, looking into Artemis' eyes. "You understand that, do you?" _

_"How old is she?" _

_"Two years old." _

_It was clear from Jefferson's tone that he hated to tell her all of that. He didn't trusted Artemis. And Artemis certainly didn't trusted Jefferson either. But yet, she kept asking. _

_"What about the girl's mother?" she asked. _

_Jefferson pursed his lips. He glanced back, as if to check the little girl wasn't listening. He looked at Artemis again, this time, there was no smile on his face. "She's gone." _

_Artemis opened her mouth to speak, to then promptly close it. "I'm sorry," she said at last. _

_"I am too," Jefferson said. _

_For a moment, they were both silent. _

_Artemis glanced back at the little girl. _

_"Is she quiet?" she asked. _

_Jefferson looked confused for a second. "Uh, Grace? Yes. She's very quiet and nice," he narrowed his eyes. "Why?" _

_Artemis sighed, and closed her arms. "Go with Rumple, he'll get mad if you don't, and if you're raising a child on your own you'll need the gold. Go. I'll stay with the girl...Grace, right?" _

_Jefferson crossed his arms too. "What?" _

_Artemis rolled her eyes, and put her hands on her hips. "Do I need to repeat myself? Beacuse I don't like to." _

_"I'm not going to left my daughter with a woman—" _

_"A woman you know for years now," interrupted Artemis raising her eyebrows. _

_"—A woman I don't trust. A woman who has made horrible things," he continues as if Artemis hadn't talked._

_"Should I be offended?" Artemis said. _

_Jefferson looked dead serious. "Would you trust a woman like you with your only family?" _

_"No," Artemis said slowly. "I wouldn't." _

_"Then you got my answer—" _

_"I'll never hurt a child," Artemis interrupted. "You have my word. I won't hurt the girl. But please, go to Rumple's Castle, it's important." _

_Jefferson looked at Grace, still inmerse on her game. "Really important?" _

_Artemis nodded. "That's what he said. And you know how much he pays for those "important" works." _

_"I don't trust you," Jefferson repeated. "But I need the gold. For Grace. I need to found a proper house for us." _

_"I know," Artemis said. "I swear I will behave." _

_It took a while, but Jefferson accepted. He went to the kitchen, said something to his daughter, and went back to where Artemis was. _

_"You touch her, and I'll kill you." he said. _

_Artemis just nodded, rolling her eyes. __"Just go, Hatter, before I change my mind." _

_..._

_Artemis saw the Hatter use his hat to go back to Rumple's castle. She sighed tiredly and turned around. The little girl, Grace, looked at her without blinking. She was hugging her TeddyBear to her chest._

_Artemis blinked awkwardly. "Hi, Grace..." _

_"Hi," said the little girl. _

_An awkward silence followed. _

...

* * *

><p>I woke up when Paige jumped on me. I gasped, my eyes snapping open and my heart beating madly. Paige laughed loudly. I had to glance around a couple of times to realise where I was.<p>

I was still on my room.

Still on StoryBrooke.

It was only a dream.

"Ugh, move over!" I yelled as I tried to push Paige off me. "You are too heavy!"

Paige laughed louder. I pushed her, and she jumped to the other side of the bed. She giggled and cuddled up close to me. I turned to the side so we were facing each other. Her beautiful smile seemed to light up the whole room. I smiled, rolling my eyes. "Why so happy, sis?"

I ruffled her hair, causing her to push my hand away. "I'm not happy."

"Yes you are," I said grinning at her happy face. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she tried again, but I simply smirked at her, to which she rolled her eyes and ended giggling again. "Well...I...I kind of have...a date," she admitted.

"Oh, my god!" I exclaimed, looking at Grace with shock. "Oh, my god!"

"I know!" she giggled, clapping excitedly. We sort of giggled together again. I was sensing this was a good day already.

"With who? No! Let me guess," I started to smirk. "Henry Mills!"

Paige's smile disappeared. "No," she said.

I frowned, "Then who's your date?"

She fidgeted with her hands. "His name's Mark, and he's a boy from my class..."

"Why hadn't I heard from him before?" I asked.

"Because we've only started talking some days ago," Paige said. "But he asked me out this morning and...I said yes."

"Mom and dad know?" I asked frowning.

"Uh...kind of...no?" Paige stammered, her cheeks going a delicate shade pink. "That's why I was going you could walk me to the cinema and...I don't know, just, like, stick around, in case I need you..."

"Of course," I said slowly. "When are you supposed to be there?"

"Uh...now?" She smiled at me sheepishly.

I groaned, burring my head on my pillow. "Paige!"

"That's why I woke you up!" she said quickly, still smiling sheepishly. "So you could go with me and...help me."

"Paige, I'm 26 years old and still single," I said. "How am I going to help you?"

"I don't know, I just need you with me," she said. "I'll feel better if you're there...Please?"

"How can I say no to that?" I sighed. "Just let me get dressed."

...

Mark turned out to be a very handsome young man. He was very polite and always smiled at me and talked to me even when I tried to stay away for most of the time. I wanted to give them space.

We walked nearly all StoryBrooke. Paige and Mark talked and laughed while I stayed a couple of steps ahead of them, listening to music as I kept an eye of them.

The sight of the two made me smile. Two 11 years old kids laughing and eating ice cream as they walked around talking and bonding. I seriously couldn't believe my eyes. I was sure if Jefferson was alive, and with us, he'd be jealous and probably followed Mark around until the boy would understand how much he loved his daughter.

That made me sad.

I was able to assist Paige on her first date, but her father wasn't.

The smile disappeared from my face.

"Hey, Melanie!" called Paige.

I looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Can we go to the movies now?"

"Yeah," I said. "C'mon,"

"Wait," Mark said. "I'm waiting for my brother."

"You're brother?" I asked confusedly.

"Yeah, he's late, but he's coming now," Mark said.

"I didn't know...—"

"Oops," said Paige smirking.

Suddenly, I understood. I turned to Paige with a small glare, my hands on my hips. "Paige Grace, you did not just dragged me into a double date!"

"C'mon, Mel! it'll be fun!" Paige said, smiling at me.

I closed my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes.

"You have to forget him—" Paige started to say.

I froze, and looked at her. Did she remembered? But her eyes still had that look of easiness. So no, she didn't remembered her real father.

"You eavesdropped," I said. "You heard Mom and me talking last night, did you?"

Paige nodded, "I'm sorry, Melanie, I really am. But you're young, you need to get over him—"

I crunched down to be at Paige's height. I put my hands on her shoulder and give a little squeeze. "Sweetie, I appreciate your concern, but if I hadn't dated, it's not because...it's not because I'm not over him. It's just that I hadn't found the correct guy yet."

"This may be your lucky day, then," said a new voice behind us.

We turned. A handsome young man, maybe my age, was grinning at us. His golden curls shined with the sun, his dark blue eyes twinkled at us. He was built like a surfer, even had a perfect tan.

"This is my brother," said Mark. "James, this is Melanie. Melanie, James."

I rose again, and tried to smile at the man. He came forwards and shook my hand.

"Its a pleasure to meet you, Melanie," James said.

"Likewise," I said.

Mark and Paige quickly chatted excitedly over the movie they wanted to see. I glanced back at James, only to find him still watching me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, pursing my lips.

"Because you're beautiful," James said. "Nearly as beautiful as Paige described."

I blinked, my mouth opening and then closing. I snorted, more than surprised.

I certainly didn't looked beautiful. That day I had my hair up in a messy bun, and my sweater was bigger than me by a significative difference.

But yet, what made me made snort was the fact that in more than 28 years, no one had ever complimented me.

"What?" James smiled.

"Nothing," I said, smiling back. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, of course, let's go."

On the way to StoryBrooke's Cinema James and I talked a lot. He told me he worked as the life guard at the shore.

When he asked, I told him I worked at Mr. Gold's pawnshop. That always shooed people away, but not James. He sort of shrugged it off, which made me feel frustrated.

I told him I loved reading and watching Netflix all day. He told me he loved reading too, and asked me what my favourite book was.

And guess what? His favourite book was my favourite too.

The questions continued, and every time our answers were more alike than before.

We had so much in common it was frustrating.

...

At the Cinema, I let Paige and Mark choose the movie they wanted to see, and I paid for the tickets. (Yes, I paid. And Mark was the one that "invited" Paige to the movies) As we entered the room, Paige and Mike took seats close to the stairs. I sat two files of seats behind them. James sat by my side.

"So tell me, Melanie," James whispered as the lights started to flicker. "Will you go on a proper date with me this Saturday?"

I looked up from my popcorn at James. "What?"

"Well, I couldn't help but overheard you talking to Paige. You didn't knew it was a double date. So I want to ask you out properly," his smile was so charming it made my heart flutter for a second. He looked so nice and so sincere...

I swallowed the lump on my throat. "Yes."

Before the lights went out an ether movie started, I saw James big grin.

...

* * *

><p><em>Artemis was about to fall asleep when she heard the door opening slowly. She raised quickly from the couch, but it was just Jefferson. He looked worn out and tired. <em>

_He entered the room, and saw Artemis. "Hey," she said. _

_"Hey, where's Grace?" Jefferson asked, throwing his hat on the table. _

_Artemis signalled to the other small room. "She fell asleep a while ago." _

_Jefferson went to check her, and all while Artemis stretched and took her hood in hopes of going back to her "house". As she was tying the laces of the hood together, Jefferson came back. _

_"Thank you for looking after her," he said, offering a small smile. "She looks fine." _

_"She is fine," Artemis said a bit offended. "I told you I'll never hurt a child." _

_Jefferson just nodded, looking down at the floor. When he looked up, he saw Artemis heading for the door. "I must go—" _

_"Are you mad?" frowned Jefferson. _

_"What is it with you calling me that?" frowned Artemis, turning back. _

_Jefferson was looking at her with his arms crossed over his strong chest. _

_"It's midnight already, are you going to travel through realms _now_?" he ironised. "You know you have to cross this forest all over again, then took a boat, and—" _

_"I know all I have to do!" she snapped, "I did all of that this morning." _

_"Okay!" Jefferson raised his hand up. "Go on, but I'll tell you, that's suicide." _

_Artemis pursed her lips. "Then what do you want me to do? Stay here?" she gestured to the cottage. _

_"That's not a bad idea," Jefferson said shrugging. Artemis bitch-faced him. He moved to his kitchen, and he came back with a bottle of wine, and two cups. "Cause now I have someone to share this." _

_"Shouldn't you be sharing it with your girlfriends?" Artemis ironised. The hatter was such a womaniser, Artemis wasn't sure why she had been surprised he had a daughter. _

_"Nah," he said, sitting down on the couch and pouring wine on the cups. "I want to share it with you." _

_Artemis sighed, frustrated. But deep down, she knew he was right. It would be suicide if she decided to cross the forest at midnight. What else could she do? _

_"C'mon, I don't bite...unless you want me to," Jefferson said, finishing with a flirty smirk. _

_Artemis rolled her eyes, but sat with Jefferson, accepting the glass of wine. Jefferson smirked at her again, moving his hands towards her tight. She slapped his hand away. Jefferson just smirked, this time lowering his lips to his glass of wine. _

_Artemis took a sip of the wine and coughed. It was a very strong one. She calculated that soon, both of them would be drunk. That, if they continued drinking. _

_"If you're trying to make me drunk to take advantage of me, I swear I will cut your balls off and feed them to the wolves." _

_Jefferson choked on his wine. _

_Artemis smirked, taking another small sip of wine. _

_"Yeah, no, thank you," he said, grimacing. "I'm not trying to make a move on you..." _

_Artemis nodded. _

_"...I'm not that desperate." he finished, smirking. _

_Artemis felt a pang of anger building on her stomach. She knew the Hatter was just messing with her. Oh, we'll, if he wanted to play..._

_"Then you must be very desperate," she said. "Have you forgotten what happened in Wonderland?" _

_The smirk disappeared from his face. Of course he remembered. Some weeks before that day, both Artemis and Jefferson were searching for something on Wonderland when Jefferson accidentally ate a poisonous fruit. He got sick immediately. He was feverish and ill. Artemis took care of him, hiding them both on a cave until the Queen's guards stopped searching for them. One night, as Jefferson's fever increased, he started talking incoherently, in one of his talks he told Artemis she was the most beautiful woman he'd seen in all the realms. He even tried to kiss her...But that was another story. _

_"I _hate_ Wonderland," Jefferson said sourly. _

_Artemis laughed. "I know you do." _

_For a moment, both of them were in silence. _

_Soon, the first glass was of wine was over. Jefferson refilled their glasses with more wine, and soon Artemis was feeling more easygoing than before. _

_"Tell me about Grace," Artemis said softly. _

_Jefferson looked up, a small smile on his face. "She's the light of my life." _

_Artemis smiled. Then she though about the scared little girl she saw that morning when her father left her with a strange girl._

_"Does she...misses her mother?" she dared to ask. _

_Jefferson's face changed the moment Artemis mentioned Grace's mother. He looked sourly at his boots. Artemis felt and for asking. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." _

_"No, its okay," he said. "Grace didn't met her mother." _

_"What exactly happened to her?" Artemis said softly. The alcohol was taking its effect on her. She slowly reached for Jefferson's hand. Sober, she'd never even care about the girl, nor Jefferson's feelings. _

_The Hatter pursed his lips again. He definitely didn't trusted Artemis, but what she said that morning was swimming on his head. He know her years ago. He'd worked with her more times that he could count. They'd saved each others life million times. Why exactly didn't he trusted her? He doesn't know. _

_Not yet, at least. _

_"She left us," he said at last. Glaring down at his glass. "She said she didn't wanted to be with a Portal Jumper, much less have to raise a child with him. When Grace was born she only stayed a couple of days with us. She left as soon as she could. Hadn't seem her again." _

_"You two loved each other?" she asked. _

_Jefferson sipped his drink. "Yeah. I loved her with all my heart. But I guess she didn't loved me enough." _

_Artemis swallowed. "I used to think I was heartless, but this woman...she won the prize." _

_Jefferson half snorted. "You're not heartless," he said, the alcohol speaking for him. "You're cold, and dark...but you're not heartless. If you were, you wouldn't had done half the things you've done for me." _

_"You think so?" Artemis said softly. _

_"Yes," Jefferson said. _

_Slowly, Jefferson and Artemis were getting closer to each other. Jefferson's arm rested on the couch, while Artemis was curled up to look at him. He looked up at her face. He saw her hazel eyes, her blonde hair, her delicate face, her freckles...She looked at his bright blue eyes, his dark hair, his handsome face..._

_"Have I told you how much I like you, Artemis?" Jefferson breathed. He lowered his hand and moving a curl of her hair away from his line of view. "You are so beautiful," _

_Artemis swallowed, her mind totally blank. "Yeah," she said. "You told me once, in Wonderland..." _

_"You're beautiful," he repeated. "So, _so_ beautiful..." _

_As he talked, he was lowering his head. His head touched Artemis', and she blinked, fighting the alcohol. "Hatter, what are you—" _

_He kissed her. Nothing special. Not a long kiss. Not passionate. Not lovely. His lips touched hers for a fraction of second before pulling away. She looked at him wide eyed, her lips burning. _

_"Really beautiful..." he said. _

_Artemis swallowed again, "Jefferson...you are drunk." _

_The hatter blinked. "Yes...I think I am."_

_"Go to bed," Artemis said. _

_"Come with me," he said. _

_Artemis sighed. "Hatter..." _

_"No," he shook his head. "Not like that...just...sleep with me. Cuddling, hugging..." _

_"Jefferson..." Artemis said in a warning tone. "You are drunk. _We_ are drunk...stop talking, you're going to regrets everything you've said in the morning..." _

_"I know," he said, seriously, to then drink what was left of wine on his glass in one big large sip. "But its not the morning yet, and you can't sleep in the couch. There's only one bed, Artemis...Sleep with me..." _

_Artemis looked at him. "No funny business, okay?" _

_"Promise," he said. "I just want to sleep with you..." _

_... _

_In the morning, when Artemis woke up, she groaned. She had a horrible headache. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She groaned. Great. She tried to move, but a found put she couldn't. With a start, she realized it was Jefferson's arm what stopped her. His head was resting on her shoulder, his breath meeting her cheek. His arms tightly around her wait. She moved, trying to break away from his grip, but the Hatter was deeply asleep. "Jefferson!" she yelled, losing her patience. "GET OFF ME." _

_The hatter jumped and his eyes flew open. He groaned, blinking a couple of times to adjust his eyes to the light. Then he seemed to realize he was hugging Artemis. He separated from her like if she had just electrocuted him. "What the hell, woman! What are you doing in my bed?" _

_"You invited me to sleep with you!" she said, feeling her cheeks burn. _

_He blinked a couple of times, then he seemed relieved to see both of them were fully dressed. He blinked again, memories from last night coming back._

_"Oh," he said. _

_Artemis nodded at him, watching him warily. _

_"Wait, did I...did I kissed you?" he frowned. _

_Artemis glared at him. "Shut up," _

_"Wait but, did I—" _

_"Not one word, hatter, not one word," Artemis warned. She rose from the bed and hurried to the door as fast as she could. _

_"Wait, what are you doing?" Jefferson said confused. _

_"It's daytime already, I'm going home."_

_She left, leaving a confused Jefferson behind. _

_"Ugh, I'm never drinking again..." he said. _

...

* * *

><p>James and Mark walked us both back home. I was feeling more and more awkward every passing second. James was too smiley for my liking. There was something about him I didn't liked. Maybe it wa she fact that I actually liked him a bit.<p>

In our porch, Paige kissed Mark's cheek and she hurried back inside. Mark sighed smiling. I rolled my eyes at that.

James smiled at me.

"I'm not kissing you," I warned, crossing my arms.

He laughed.

"I imagined it," he said. He kissed my cheek softly. "Good night, Melanie."

I blinked, feeling my cheek heating. "Uh...good night, James."

"See you on Saturday," he winked, and left.

I waited until both brothers were out of view. As I was opening the door, I felt my neck tingle.

I was being watched.

I turned around, but there was no one, not even close to me. I narrowed my eyes, and waited.

Nothing, just silence and blackness.

"I'm being paranoid," I said, shaking my head.

I entered the house.


	4. Every villain wants happiness

A week later, I was working with Rumple when James entered the shop and grinned at me. I grinned back, feeling a sudden spark of happiness.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," he smiled, his whole face brightening.

We smiled at each other. I remembered Rumple was in the room with us when he muttered something about letting us alone.

"How are you?" I asked him.

"Perfect now that I see you," he said bluntly.

I blushed darkly, but I laughed it off. "Knock it off, what are you doing here?"

"It's my day off and I thought that maybe if you were free would like to go to lunch with me..."

"I would love to," I said, smiling while tilting my head a little.

"Perfect," he grinned.

"I still have five minutes of work so..." I said.

"I'll wait for you," he said.

Rumple appeared again. James looked uncomfortable, to which I raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be outside," he said to me.

"Okay."

I started searching for my purse when Rumple stopped me.

"You look happy," he said.

"I _feel_ happy," I admitted.

"I thought I'd never see you happy again," he said.

I sighed, looking down, to then look at him. "I thought that too, once, but you know what? Fuck it. Fuck it all, I don't care anymore. I used to be scared of what I would feel for James if we continued to hang out. Now I don't care. I deserve it? Don't I?"

Rumple smiled. It wasn't a smirk nor a cocky grin, it was a real smile.

"I'm glad to hear that," he said. "Keep the positivity up."

"I can tell you the same thing," I said. "When will you be happy? You deserve happiness, Rumple."

He looked back to make sure no one heard me say his real name, but we were alone in the shop. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't like I had his fake real name to use instead of Rumple. I grew tired of calling him Mr. Gold once, and since he never told me his fake name, I settled for calling him Rumple.

"My happy ending died, Artemis," he said.

"Mine did too," I said gently. "But at least I'm trying."

"Trying," Rumple repeated. "What for?"

I looked at him surprised.

"Happiness!" I said, like it should be obvious. Happiness was what every one of us was searching for. That was we all wanted. That's what Regina wanted when she made this curse. That's what I wanted when I moved with Jefferson and Grace...

"Dearie...villains don't get happy endings," he said gently.

I blinked a couple of times. "I know that."

"Then why do you keep trying?" he asked, real curiosity on his voice.

I didn't knew what to say. I realized with a start that I'd isn't had an answer for that.

"I don't know." I said. "I just want to be happy...happy like I was when I was with Jefferson."

For a second, he evaded my look.

I half chuckled. "What's wrong, Rumple?"

He shook his head. I recognized immediately that look on his eyes.

"Why do you look guilty?" I frowned. "Is everything alright?"

He shook his head again. "Its nothing, dear, just go. Go ahead, have your date."

I looked at him, but at the end I complied.

"Whatever," I said as I walked away. I'd never understand him completely, Rumple had too many secrets.

I smiled and intertwined my hand with James' as we walked together towards Granny's. The feeling of being watched still was there. But every time I looked back subtly, I couldn't see anyone.

"Don't be a girl, Melanie," James scoffed jokingly.

I froze for a second.

* * *

><p><em>"Ew," Artemis said with a wrinkle of her nose. <em>

_"Don't be a girl," Jefferson smirked. _

_""Don't be a girl"" Artemis repeated, turning to her nemesis with a glare. "Is that supposed to be an insult? Is it supposed to hurt?"_

* * *

><p>"What?" James asked. "Are you okay?"<p>

"Yes," I said, shrugging it off. "So, "don't be a girl? Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Of course not," James said.

I smirked. "Thought so."

...

* * *

><p>Truth is, even when I hate being in StoryBrooke, because its boring and all of that, I don't care if the curse gets broken or not.<p>

I mean, what do I have back in the Enchanted Forest?

Enemies, a cursed life, an ugly destiny, a dark past...Nothing worth going back. Nothing I care about.

Here?

Here I have Paige, here I have Mrs. & Mr. Grace. Here I have friends, I have family, I have a life...

Rumple usually talks about the great saviour, the one that's gonna break the curse and save us all from the amnesia and all of that. I am intrigued, I can't deny that.

The famous Emma sounds like a lot: daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, the product of true love and all that stupid trash...But I don't care if the curse is broken or not. I already remember, so why would I care about the curse at all?

So, when Rumple called me and told me the saviour was here, I tried to sound excited, only for Rumple's sake. But deep down, I didn't cared.

I knew why he cared, he wanted the curse to be over so he could search for his son, and I wanted to help him.

After all, I wouldn't be myself if it wasn't for Rumple. He'd done more things for me than anybody else, and I, for once, wanted to do the same for him.

After a while, I got curious, and decided to eat breakfast in Granny's, were I knew Henry was. When I entered, I choose the table close to them both, and subtly listened to their conversation. They were having a soft conversation about all of us StoryBrooke citizens. Henry was filling her in, telling her the real names of the characters he knew.

After a while, he noticed me."And that's Artemis."

"Like the goddess?" Emma turned to me.

I choose that moment to raise my head. Our eyes met, and I smiled politely. She tried to smile back, but it looked forced.

She turned back to Henry.

"Exactly," Henry said excitedly. "You see, she isn't a goddess, but many people believed her to be. She was nameless for years,—"

"How can someone be nameless?" Emma raised her eyebrows.

I, on the other hand, felt a knob on my throat. I didn't knew Henry knew that.

"She was abandoned as a child. She had nothing that could tell her who she was, or what happened to her parents. So, for years, she wandered the realms alone, making friendship and working for the wrong people. She got a reputation—"

"A bad one," Emma guessed.

Henry made a noise of agreement. "Eventually, people compared her to the Greek Goddess Artemis. She was exactly as ancient myths described about Artemis: ruthless, strong, powerful, independent. She used a bow, hunted all her prays, loved animals, defended young maidens..."

"So people thought she was Artemis," Emma guessed again.

I didn't heard Henry's response, which told me he nodded.

"They even called her that. After some time she grew fond of the name, and started calling herself that. That has been her name all this time." Henry said.

"But...is she a villain or...?"

"Villain," Henry said. He and Emma both stood up and started to walk towards the door. "One of the most dangerous and feared villains on the book. She was going to kill—Hey, Melanie,"

"Hey, Henry," I winked, he grinned at me before continuing walking.

"Hi," nodded Emma.

I winked at her too. "Hey,"

They continued. Henry glanced back at me before continuing. "—She was going to kill my mom."

They both disappeared.

I sipped my coffee. "Smart kid," I said, the smile disappearing from my face. "Too smart..."

Where did he get all his ideas and his information?

How could he knew about all of that?

Only Rumple and Jefferson knew the story behind my name. Same thing about me wanting to kill Regina...

How on this Earth does he knows?

...


	5. Good at tracking people

Ever since time was running again, things were starting to change. It was a slow change, but a change nevertheless. Things weren't the same everyday, now new things were happening and that was amazing. I loved how now I could talk to anyone, and they'd had new things to tell me.

But of all the things that could happen to me, I'd never thought Henry Mills would ask for my help.

It was the third day after Emma's arrival, I think. He was in my porch, begging me to help him. He was looking at me with desperation, his eyes giving me his best puppy dog eyes look. And I was more than confused.

"What?" I asked again, shaking my head in confusion.

"Help me," he repeated.

"With what?" I asked, passing a hand over my hair in exasperation. "And, Henry, why me? We don't even talk—"

"I need your help," Henry said, stressing the 'need' and 'your'.

"With what?" I asked again. "Does your mother knows you're here?"

"Shut up and listen," he said hurriedly. I raised my eyebrows at him, crossing my arms over my chest once more. "John Doe disappeared in the forest, and I know where he's going!"

"Congratulations," I said. "So?"

"So I need you to take me to the forest," he said hurriedly again. "Emma, Mary Margaret and Graham are searching for him—"

"So why do you wanna go to the forest? They probably found him already, Graham's a great tracker." I said.

"Will you listen to me?" he asked, nearly desperate. "They don't know where he's going, I do. If they don't find him he can die! I need your help, Melanie, please, take me to the woods so I can warn them."

"Why won't you go alone?" I asked, though I knew the answer already. The sun was setting, and soon the forest would be very dark, and very dangerous for a ten years old.

"It's dark," he said. "And I'm not a good tracker. You are. Please, help me, Melanie."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to take you to the woods, kid, if something happens to you—"

"My mom would be furious," Henry said.

I started to grin, "She'd be furious..."

"Please," Henry said again, his puppy dog eyes increasing.

"Okay, okay," I said, grabbing my jacket and putting it on as fast as I could. Anything to see Regina angry and worried. "Let's go."

I grabbed Henry's hand, and together we ran towards the woods.

...

It took me five minutes to reach them. Honestly, with the noise they were doing it was matter of time before any animal reached them. Not that I'm worried about them.

We saw Mary Margaret and Emma having a slow awkward conversation as Graham walked away from them. I frowned as we approached quickly. They didn't heard us, they were too busy being awkward around each other. I snapped a brach of three as I passed by, making them both turn around alarmed.

"You should follow him," I said, making them both jump at the proximity of my voice. "It's no use of you get lost here too."

"Melanie," Mary Margaret said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Kid dragged me," I said, rolling my eyes as I pointed to Henry at my side.

"Henry!" Emma said, clearly surprised to see him.

"You found him yet?" Henry asked.

"No, not yet. You shouldn't be here." Emma said.

"I can help," Henry said. "I know where he's going."

Both of them looked surprised. I met Emma's eyes and I sighed shrugging. I didn't had an option, kid was persistence on bringing me with him and helping him.

"And where's that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"He's looking for you," Henry said.

I rolled my eyes. Tha was typical of Snow White and Prince Charming, always searching for each other and—Oh. The John Doe must be Prince Charming then...

As we walked Emma and Mary Margaret kept sending me reproving looks as I tried to stay as away from them as I could. Henry kept trying to make Mary Margaret believe what he was trying to say, while Emma looked even more worried about her kid's obsession with fairy tales.

"You're the last one he saw," Henry said. "He wants to find you."

"Henry, it's not about me. It just—I think he's lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time."

"But he loves you." Henry said. "You need to stop chasing him and let him find you."

"Kid," Emma said with a hard voice. "You need to go home. Where's your mom? She's gonna kill me and then you" she pointed at me, "And then me again."

I scoffed. "She can try," I said darkly.

Emma looked at me. "Why did you bring him here? Do you have an idea of how dangerous this could be?"

"One: I didn't had a choice, the kid dragged me here," I said coldly. "And two: Do you? Do you have an idea of how this forest is? It seems to me that the only one here with enough knowledge of forest and woods is me."

Henry looked between the two of us with worry, to then say to Emma. "She dropped me at the house then went right out. I ran to Melanie's and forced her to came with me."

"Well, we need to get you back immediately," Emma said.

"No!" Henry said.

I rolled my eyes at them and stalked off to she Graham was. He acknowledged my presence with a small nod as we both looked around, searching for the famous John Doe.

As we moved, I looked down, only to saw something on a leave. I crunched down. "Graham," I called.

He approached me.

"Flashlight," I asked.

He moved his flashlight to where I was pointing, and he crunched down too to look at it. A hospital band was there, with blood and 'John Doe' written on it.

"Guys!" he called.

They came to us running.

"Is that..." Mary Margaret said in a worried voice.

"Blood." Emma finished.

I took the thing on my hand, and passed my fingers over the blood. Graham frowned at me, but I grimaced at how hot and fresh the blood seemed to be.

"It's fresh. He can't be that far," I said, cleaning my hand with Graham's shirt, to which he grimaced at me. "Move!"

We followed the only road that the John Doe could have taken, and soon we found ourselves at the edge of the water.

"Oh, gosh!" Mary Margaret said, as she looked around frenetically. "Where is him? Can you see him?"

"The trial dies at the water line," Graham said.

We all pointed our flashlights to the sides, trying to see if he was around here.

Mary Margaret gasped and started to run. "Oh, my God! Oh, My God! Oh, my God!"

We ran with her towards the unconscious form of the John Doe. Graham quickly used his telephone to call for an ambulance. We all took parts of the John Doe to move him away from the water.

"Slow down, slow down, slow down," Mary Margaret ordered.

We slowed him down slowly and gently as Mary Margaret started to go hysterics. I swallowed when I catch a better glance at the John Doe's face. He was Prince Charming.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, I found you!" she said.

I felt like an intruder, so I moved towards Henry, not knowing what should I do as I swallowed the lump on my throat.

He looked dead. Charming looked dead.

"It's gonna be okay," Mary M kept saying, putting his head on her knees.

"Help's comming." Graham said to us.

"Is he okay?" Henry asked worriedly from his spot at my side.

I put my hand over his shoulders out of reflex. He was too young to be seeing this.

"Henry," Emma run to us. "Don't look, okay? Don't look."

We both made him turn away from all this scene. Emma hugged him, making his face hide on her stomach as I tried not to listen to Mary Margaret desperately trying to make Prince Charming wake up. She started to push his chest, trying to revive him. I put my hand over Henry's eyes as I saw him looking with the corner of his eyes to them.

"It's gonna be okay," I said softly to him. "Prince Charming's a strong guy."

Mary Margaret put his mouth over Charmings, trying to give him air, but to me it looked more like a kiss than anything. As she moved away in defeat when he didn't responded, his eyes flew open and he started coughing and splitting water.

"You saved me," he wheezed.

"She did it," Henry said, starting to smile. "She did it, she woke him up."

Emma looked really fucked up as she answered him. "Yeah, kid, she did."

I blinked at them repeatedly. Could that have been a true love kiss? He looked pretty dead to me before...But no, it couldn't have been a gruel love kiss since Mary Margaret and him didn't loved each other here.

...

At the hospital, the five of us were looking through the crystal door as they started putting cables and treating Prince Charming.

"David!" I voice approaching us called. "David! Is that you?"

We looked back to see a beautiful blonde woman. She entered the door quickly, looking really worried about Prince Charming. Or David, as she called him.

Dr. Whale dragged her out with gentle words.

"Who is that?" Mary Margaret asked.

I shrugged. I truly had no idea. In all my years here I had never seen her, and I practically knew everybody here.

"His wife," a voice called behind us.

We all turned. Regina was there, smirking at us, specially at Mary Margaret.

I frowned. Prince Charming was married to Snow White—Mary Margaret. So of course, the blonde woman must be a poor innocent woman that Regina is using to hurt Mary Margaret.

"His name is David Nolan, and that's his wife Kathryn." Regina said. "And the joy on her face—well...it's put me in quite the forgiving mood." she glanced at Emma, who frowned at her. "We'll talk about your insubordination later." she said to Henry. To me she only gave me a nasty look, but she didn't said anything to me. "Do you know what insubordination means?"

Henry shook his head, puffing air out of his cheeks.

"It means you're grounded," I whispered.

"Exactly," Regina said, making me cringe. I hated it when she agreed with me.

After that, it broke my cold heart to see Mary Margaret and Kathryn talking. I must admit Regina did a great job enchanting Kathryn's mind to believe David was her husband. She answered every question Mary Margaret and Emma asked. Every time, the smug smirk Regina wore made me want to kille her even more. It was the same smirk she wore when she told me Jefferson was dead.

The smirk started to wear off her face when Dr. Whale came talk to us. He explained that it was a miracle that David was alive. And that when he woke up, he was delirious, and the first thing that crossed his mind was to find something...to which Henry corrected with a "Someone." I loved the look on Regina's face when Henry said that.

"Henry, let's go." she ordered when Dr. Whale crossed the crystal doors again.

Henry started to walk towards her, but stopped in the middle. "Wait...my backpack."

As he took it and put in on his back, he looked at Mary Margaret. "Don't believe them. You're the one he was looking for." he whispered.

"Henry," Mary Margaret sighed in a whisper.

"He was going to the Troll Bridge," Henry whispered. "It's like the end of the story."

I frowned. "What story?" I whispered to myself. Emma heard me and shook her head.

Better not to ask, then.

"Henry, he was going there because its the last thing I read to him."

"No," Henry said. "It's because you belong together."

"Henry," Regina called.

This time he followed her.

I decided to go then. I didnt had anything else to do there now. As I rose from my seat and said goodbye to Mary Margaret, Graham approached me.

"You need a ride, Melanie?"

"Yeah," I said. "A ride would be perfect."

He nodded.

"Thank you," I said as we started to walk away.

We passed by Regina and Emma talking, which made me sigh. I didn't wanted to hear their drama, but I catch a phrase as we walked.

"Because not having someone," Regina was saying. "That's the worst curse imaginable."

I froze, the truth of her statement struck me. Graham looked back at me, confusion in his face.

How true her statement was, I realized immediately. All my life I'd been alone. The only moments where I didn't felt alone was when I was with Jefferson and Grace—and sometimes with Rumple too. Even as a baby, I'd been alone. Now, here I am. Alone again. And that was truly the most horrible curse of all time.

"Are you okay?" Graham asked me gently.

I looked into his eyes. They were nothing like Paige's, but they reminded me of her.

They reminded me that even if I didn't had Jefferson, I had Paige.

I wasn't alone. Not really.

"Yes," I swallowed. "Let's just go. It's been a long night."

Graham nodded, and we left the hospital.

...

* * *

><p>...<p>

_Fifteen years old Artemis glanced around at her new master's chambers. Maleficent looked pretty powerful, so she thought that maybe it'd be nice to work with her. Could learn new things and stuff._

_"A party," Maleficent was saying. Artemis looked at her, only realizing she hadn't been listening to her for a while now. She had been too lost on her thoughts. "And I wasn't invited?"_

_The bird man didn't answered. He gave Artemis the creeps. Mostly because he was a bird that could transform itself into a man when he wanted, and when he did he always was naked. And he looked weird, with skin too pale and hair too black._

_"How wonderful," Maleficent smirked._

_Artemis looked away from the man to look at the Queen of Darkness._

_"We're going?" she guessed._

_"Why, of course," Maleficent smirked, her eyes shinning with mischief._

_"But I thought we weren't invited," Artemis asked innocently. She was too innocent. Even after years of working for evil sorceress she still was innocent. It looked like she hadn't found anything to make her lose her innocence yet. Maleficent was sure she could make the girl be as powerful and dark as she was. It was her new goal._

_Corrupt an innocent soul...how wonderful, indeed._

_Maleficent smirked, and that was enough answer for the girl._

_..._

_The beautiful Kingdom of King Stefan was exactly as_ _it was called. Beautiful. Artemis found herself wanting to explore it deeply._

_"You like it?" the bird man asked her._

_Artemis jumped a bit, but nodded._

_"Soon it'll be Maleficent's," he said. "And then you can explore it all you want."_

_Artemis found herself smiling. "That'd be nice."_

_The bird man smiled back. He looked even more creepy smiling. Artemis looked to Maleficent, who was starting to cross the gates now. She turned to look at them, and the bird man transformed himself into a bird again, and he flew to Maleficent's shoulder. Artemis walked behind her._

_They entered the castle without any problems. Every time a guard saw them, it looked scared, but before it could run, Maleficent put them to sleep with a spell._

_"Sweet Aurora, my gift for you is—" the little fairy that was blessing the baby was suddenly thrown off the crib when a blast of cold air made them all shiver._

_The door flew open, the guards fell down to the floor seeming to be unconscious and Maleficent and Artemis entered the room. It was quite an entrance, Artemis noticed. Maleficent seemed to be smirking as she looked at everybody, a green aura filling the air as everybody screamed and tried to back away from them._

_It was quite the impact Maleficent seemed to have on everyone, Artemis noticed. The mood that once was joyous and happy was tense and dark now. The three little fairies that blessed the princess were trying to cover the crib out of Maleficent's_ eyes. _The king and Queen looked shocked an scared._

_Maleficent made her way between all the people, the bird dragging Artemis gently by her sleeves. Maleficent strolled until she was right in front of the King and Queen's throne. The crib with the baby at her left side. Artemis at her right side, and the crow flying in circles around her._

_"Well, well..." Maleficent smirked. She had a deep powerful voice that made everyone cringe with fear. "What a glittering assemblage, King Stefan." the crow posed himself on Maleficent's cane. She instinctively started to caress him. "Royalty, nobility, the gentry, and..." she chuckled darkly. "How wonderful...Even the poor."_

_Maleficent looked at King Stefan then, and her eyes seemed to darken a bit. Artemis noticed how much she seemed to hate them both, the king and the queen, and wondered why._

_"I must say I really felt quite distressed for not receiving an invitation," Maleficent said._

_"You're not welcomed here," King Stefan said._

_Artemis eyes widened. Surely Maleficent would take that really bad...but she only mocked them. Maleficent seemed to look down in sadness, "Oh," seeming to be hurt, to then seconds later look up laughing. "Oh, dear, what an awkward situation."_

_She turned her head to look at her apprentice. Artemis wasn't blinking as she looked Maleficent and all she was doing. From all the evil people she had worked with, in a couple of minutes of knowing her, Maleficent seemed to be the most dangerous of them._

_"Aren't you offended?" Artemis asked softly._

_Maleficent smirked again. "Why, not."_

_The King and Queen looked at each other._

_"And to show I bear no ill will," Maleficent said, turning to them. "I shall too give a gift to the child."_

_The King and Queen rose alarmed from their thrones._

_"No!" the Queen said._

_Maleficent raised her eyebrows, and the Queen swallowed in fear. The king, on the other hand, seemed to have lose his ability to speak, because he said nothing._

_Maleficent approached the baby's crib, and the three little fairies tries to stood up to her, but with a movement of her hand Maleficent send them flying away._

_She looked down at the baby. It was truly a beautiful creature, Artemis noticed as she peeked from behind Maleficent. Aurora's hair seemed to be a beautiful mix of brown and red, and her eyes were wide and very blue._

_Aurora giggled at them, causing Artemis to smile_ a _little. Maleficent hummed in wonder as she thought of what to do with the little princess. As she turned to look at Artemis, her eye caught a spinning wheel in the distance, and an idea came to her._

_She started to move her hand around the crib, a green light appearing._

_"Listen well, all of you," she commanded. "The princess shall indeed grow with grace and beauty. Loved by all who meet her..."_

_Artemis blinked. That was quite nice. For a moment she thought Maleficent was going to curse the baby, but surely, she wouldn't...right? It was just an innocent baby._

_"But..." she opened her arms gracefully, facing the queen and king. "Before the sunset on her sixteen birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, and fall into a sleep like death! A sleep from which she will never awaken!"_

_Artemis, and the rest of the room suck in a gasp. Artemis was truly shocked by Maleficent's cruelty towards a baby that had done nothing wrong._

_Maleficent turned. "This curse shall last to the end of time! No power on earth can change it!"_

_"Guards!" King Stefan yelled, breaking from his stupor. A few of the guard that were awake started to run for Maleficent, but before they could approach her, she moved her hand, disappearing with the crow and Artemis from there._

_..._

_"How could you do that?" Artemis gasped._

_They were back at Maleficent's castle. The older woman was laughing at what she'd done._

_"Do what?" Maleficent asked, turning to Artemis. "Curse her?"_

_Artemis nodded._

_"Dear, she deserved it," she shrugged._

_"She was a baby!" Artemis said. "An innocent creature."_

_"Innocent!" Maleficent laughed in disbelief. "She was the daughter of the people I hate the most, of course I cursed her."_

_"But she was just a baby..." Artemis said._

_The bird man, Diaval, as she heard Maleficent call him, put a hand on her shoulder. "Leave it like that, sugar, it's for the best."_

_Artemis turned to the man with shock. But she stopped when she saw the warning on the man's eyes._

_"So...why did you do it?" Artemis asked. "I want the real reason, not the excuse you came over with."_

_Maleficent blinked. "What excuse? Dear, I cursed her because they didn't invited me to their party."_

_Artemis mouth opened in shock. "You cursed a baby...because you weren't invited to a party."_

_"Why, yes," Maleficent said. "What better reason? My feelings were hurt..."_

_But Artemis wasn't listening to what she was saying. All she could think of was that Maleficent cursed a baby out of indignation for not being invited to a party. That was so...evil, and twisted. Not even Cruella, who skinned animals for fashion seemed as dark and twisted as Maleficent._

_"You truly are the Queen of Darkness," Artemis whispered in awe._

_Maleficent smirked widely. "That, I am."_

_She, Cruella and Ursula were. Artemis had worked before for Cruella and Ursula, but with Maleficent things seemed to be darker and more dangerous._

_..._

_For one year Artemis worked for her. The next year, when Maleficent grew tired of her, and had already showed her how to be bad and cold and dark, Artemis received an invitation to the dark castle. The Dark One requested her presence. And she couldn't wait to see how it would be to work for someone so powerful and dangerous as the Dark One._

_..._

* * *

><p>That night, when I was under my covers about to fall asleep, my cellphone buzzed. I stretched until my arm touched phone. I put it in my ear without looking who was calling me.<p>

"Hello?"

"_Melanie_?" a soft voice called.

"Hey, who is this?" I asked softly as my kind drifted to sleep.

"_Thank you_," the person said. Suddenly, I recognised the voice. It was Henry Mills.

"For what?" I asked.

"_For going with me and protecting me_," he said.

"Oh...you welcome, kid," I said softly. "How are you? Regina's not going to hard on you, is she?"

"_Nah_," Henry replied. "_It's okay, I'm just grounded."_

I cracked a smile. "So I imagine you're calling me without her knowing, right?"

The silence at the other side of the line made me laugh softly.

"_Hey, Melanie...I've been trying to ask you something for a while_..." Henry said.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"_Back in the woods, when David Nolan was dying...you said "Don't worry, Prince Charming is a strong guy.""_

I blinked. "I did?"

"_Yes_..."

I cursed under my breath. How I was supposed to explain that then?

"Henry—" I started, but he cut me.

_"Just tell me something...is it true?"_

I didn't had to ask what he was talking about. Somehow, the kid knew about the curse, and somehow he knew who all of us were, and that was just too incredible. "Yes."

There was a long silence then, followed by Henry talking excitedly. _"I knew it! I knew it! Its true!"_

I laughed amusedly. "Oh, kid."

"_But tell me_—" Henry started to say, but he stopped himself, probably too excited to think of only one question.

"Tell you what," I said. "Let's meet tomorrow in Granny's for dinner, and I'll tell you anything you want to know. But...you must tell me how you know about the curse and about all of us. Deal?"

"_Deal_," Henry said excitedly.

"Goodnight then, Henry," I said. "Sweet dreams."

"_Goodnight...Artemis_," he said hesitantly my real name.

I smiled a bit. "Sweet dreams, darling."

...

The morning after the whole David Nolan thing, I was at work when I came across a familiar statue of a crow. I approached it with a knot on my throat.

"Diaval," I whispered.

I slowly and delicately passed my fingers over his feathers, as I used to do.

"Remembering old times, dearie?"

I turned to him. "I don't knew he was here...Hell, I didn't knew he got transformed into a statue."

"You can thank Prince Phillip for that," Rumple said.

I sighed, moving my hand away from the statue. I looked around slowly. I was looking at the store with new eyes now.

Rumple approached me with calmness. "This shop has many things, dearie, you would be surprised to know all the things of your past that are here."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like...this," he opened his hand, and I saw a delicate necklace. It was simply a piece of thread with a small golden charm of an arrow in it. What made me gasp was the fact that I though it lost in the Enchanted Forest.

"How do you have it?" I asked, looking at it mesmerised.

Rumple simply smiled. He held it up for me, and I slowly accepted it. I was holding it like it may break any second now.

"Let me," he said.

I turned around, moving my hair as I gave the necklace back to him. He tied it to my neck with gentleness. I looked up at the necklace that meant so much for me. He caressed my shoulders with gentleness.

I turned and smiled at him, hugging him. "Thank you, Rumple."

I could tell he was shocked by the hug, but grateful. I wondered when was the last time someone hugged him.

"It's okay, dearie, I know how much it means to you."

I looked down at the necklace Jefferson gave me.

It had been the first gift he gave to me. It was the beginning of everything. I looked back at that day, and the only thing I could think of was that it was the day I realized I loved Jefferson. And for what I've heard, it was the day he realized it too.

"This," I said, holding the small arrow in my hands. "It's the most important thing I have."

...

At dinner time, I saw Henry waiting for me at Granny's.

"Hey, Henry," I smiled, sitting across from him.

He grinned at me. "Hi,"

Ruby took my order of food, and when she was gone, Henry turned to me. He was smiling up at me with awe, something that made me giggle.

"Oh, kid," I said shaking my head.

"Do you remember, then?" he asked.

I nodded. "Everything."

"How?" he frowned.

"Honestly...I have no idea," I said. "Sometimes I think Regina left me have my memories to taunt me...but she acts like she doesn't know I know, so I don't really know."

"So...it's real," he said in wonder. I looked at him, he looked so happy to know he wasn't crazy or dumb for believing. I took his hand on mine, and squeezed gently.

"It's real, Henry," I said. "Everything is real."

His grin lit up the whole restaurant.

"How do you know?" I asked before he could ask me anything else.

He searched for something on his backpack. He took out a big book. I frowned at it.

"A book?" I asked.

He nodded, and showed it to me.

...

As I passed the pages of the books I was marvelled by all the stories that were here.

"All my life is here," I said in awe. "From the begging to the curse...how?"

"I don't know," Henry said, eating some French fries.

I stopped when in one of the pages a visible animated picture of Jefferson was smirking up at us. Henry looked at me and gave me a pitiful look. Then he seemed to realize something.

"You don't know!" he said. "Oh, god, I forgot you don't know!"

"I don't know what?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Henry!" Regina's voice snapped from the entrance. "Let's go."

Henry quickly put my jacket over the book so Regina wouldn't see it. When she left for the car, Henry turned to ,e. "I have to go..."

"It's okay," I said. "Go."

He quickly put the book back into his backpack, "Can we meet tomorrow? Or someday soon? I have to tell you something, I can't believe I forgot you don't know!"

"Okay," I said surprised by his eagerness. "Okay, let's meet tomorrow." then I remembered. "Actually, tomorrow's my birthday, but I think we can meet here in the morning. Or at my apartment, or something."

"Great," Henry said. "Bye then."

"Bye," I said.

As he left the restaurant, I wondered to myself what was so important that Henry wanted to tell me so eagerly.


End file.
